COLLEGE STATION — R. Bowen Loftin is a scholarly man with an international reputation regarding physics, when he's not busy serving as Texas A&M's 24th president.

But there's something about the old-fashioned physics of football that stirs the giddiness in even the most dignified of men. That's why Loftin is as pumped as any freshman on the sprawling A&M campus for the 2:30 p.m. Saturday showdown between top-ranked Alabama and No. 6 A&M.

“I was there on Jan. 1, 1968, to watch A&M and Alabama in the Cotton Bowl,” said Loftin, an A&M physics student at the time. “And I was there last year in Tuscaloosa. And I'll be there this year, to watch us beat them a third time.”

So ... the perpetually bow-tied university president is guaranteeing an A&M victory?

“I'm just going to watch us beat them a third time,” Loftin repeated with a chuckle.

Another man who often wears a suit on the A&M campus popped off this past summer, too. Speaking to a ballroom full of A&M boosters, athletic director Eric Hyman wisecracked, “What do the moon and Texas A&M have in common? They both control the tide.”

His joke, which drew national attention, referenced the Aggies' 29-24 toppling of top-ranked Alabama last November in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The fellows who actually suit up for the game, however, took a more measured approach concerning the most-hyped regular-season game in Kyle Field history. But they also had their moments of glee on Tuesday during A&M's weekly news conference.

“With the 12th Man behind us on each and every play, I feel like Alabama will definitely be intimidated,” senior safety Toney Hurd said. “When the 12th Man gets loud and proud, it's electric.”

One electric player not available for interviews Tuesday, however, was sophomore quarterback Johnny Manziel. The Heisman Trophy winner was available briefly on Saturday night after the Aggies' 65-28 victory over Sam Houston State, but that's been it this season (and preseason) following NCAA and A&M inquiries into whether he autographed memorabilia for pay from brokers.

The NCAA and A&M determined Manziel committed an “inadvertent violation,” and he sat out the first two quarters of the Aggies' 52-31 season-opening win over Rice. And, in A&M's most-talked-about week in regular-season history, the Aggies' leader was quiet.

“He and his family and advisors and lawyers have advised him not to talk,” A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. “I'll respect his wishes on that.”

As for Sumlin's perspective on Saturday's showdown?

“Everybody's goal in this league — certainly our goal — is to win the SEC West, and get to Atlanta and win an SEC championship,” he said. “To do that, you start with your league, in particular your division, and this week becomes our first league game.

“But our fans are excited, obviously. And our guys are excited. It's going to be a heck of a game.”

Finally, Sumlin made it clear he's not pleased with CBS Sports' plans to include a “Johnny Cam” for the contest — a TV camera that will be trained on Manziel the entire game, no matter if he's standing or sitting.

“Everything that we do here at A&M is about team and it's about building our team, building our program and not the individual,” said Sumlin, who added he intends to take up the issue with CBS. “Saturday you're going to have two football teams out there, and I just don't understand why there's got to be one guy singled out with a camera.